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EventPolitical activists seek refuge in the British Consulate in Durban
Six political refugees, Archie Gumede, the president of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Mewa Ramgobin, George Sewpersahd, M.J. Naidoo, Billy Nair and Paul…
EventP.W. Botha becomes SA’s first Executive President
South Africa's Prime Minister since 1978, P.W. Botha, was unanimously elected by eighty-eight members of the Electoral College to the office of first executive…
EventSharpeville Deputy Mayor killed
The Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Sam Dlamini was hacked to death by a group of youths, and doused in petrol and burned. The riots were in protest against rent…
EventTricameral Parliament inaugurated
On 3 September 1984, Members of Parliament convened in Cape Town to promulgate a new South African Constitution with a three-tier parliament which would re…
EventVaal Triangle erupts in violence
Boipatong, Bophelong, Evaton, Sebokeng and Sharpeville, five Black townships in the area known as the Vaal Triangle exploded into what some have described as a…
EventUDF organises boycott of Coloured and Indian parliamentry elections
On 22 August 1984 the United Democratic Front, an internal coalition of anti-apartheid groups, organised highly successful boycotts of the Coloured and Indian…
EventThe last sitting of an all-white Parliament
South Africa was recognised as a republic and pursued a political course in which Blacks, Coloureds and Indians were denied the right to parliamentary…
EventA car bomb explodes in Durban, killing five and injuring 27 people
On 12 July 1984, a car bomb exploded in Durban, killing five and injuring 27 people. This car bombing was known as the "Jacobs" car bomb, according to an…
EventJeannette Schoon and her daughter are killed by a letter bomb
Former member of South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), Jeannette Schoon, and her six-year old daughter, Katryn, were killed by a letter bomb at…
EventFormer commander of the armed forces of the Ciskei, Major-General Charles Sebe is imprisoned
Former commander of the armed forces of the Ciskei, Major-General Charles Sebe, brother of President Lennox Sebe, was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment…
EventSA Prime Minister,P.W. Botha visits Europe
Former South Africa Prime Minister, P.W Botha visited eight European countries, Portugal, Great Britain, West Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Italy and…
EventEducationist Ernest Moloto dies
Linguist, educationist and teacher, Ernest Sedumedi Moloto, who served as chairman of both the Tswana Language Committee of South Africa and the Botswana…
EventPeter Becker dies
Peter Loubser Were Becker, writer of several popular historicl books on African people and their customs, died instantly after being hit by a car outside…
EventDavid Kitson released
South Africa's longest serving White political prisoner, David Kitson, was released, seven months short of completing his twenty-year sentence for sabotage…
SA holds talks with Swaziland
EventOver 7000 people attend a rally in Pretoria to mark the foundation of the Afrikaner Volkswag
Over 7,000 people attend a rally in Pretoria to mark the foundation on 4 May 1984 of the Afrikaner Volkswag (People's Guard), a cultural organization led by…
EventThe second Carnegie Report on poverty in South Africa is released
The Second Carnegie Report on poverty in South Africa, Uprooting poverty in South Africa: Report for the 2nd Carnegie Inquiry into Poverty and Development in…
EventFour South Africans and a British national charged with illegally exporting military equipment to South Africa
Despite claims that South Africa was completely self sufficient in terms of its arms manufacturing capability, the Apartheid regime relied heavily on imported…
EventDisclosure of 1982 SA
Disclosure of 1982 SA-Swaziland pact It is disclosed that South Africa and Swaziland had signed a non-aggression pact in February 1982. The two countries now…
EventDorothy Nyembe is released from jail
Dorothy Nyembe, a prominent political activist in KwaZulu-Natal who participated in many political demonstrations against the apartheid regime and led the Cato…
EventSouth Africa and Mozambique sign a non-aggression pact
President Samora Machel of Mozambique and Prime Minister PW Botha of South Africa signed the Nkomati Accord, a non-aggression, and good-neighbourliness pact,…
EventKoeberg becomes operational
The nuclear power station at Koeberg, the only commercial nuclear power station in Africa, became operational on this date. On 21 August 1984, the French…
EventANC mounts a sabotage attack on fuel depot in Ermelo
The eighties in South Africa heralded a time of increased resistance against the Apartheid regime. The liberation movements had increased its military actions…
EventSA poet Sydney Vernon Peterson dies
Sydney Vernon Petersen, one of the prominent South African poets and educationist of the 1940s, died in Germiston. His poetry was translated into English,…
EventGang leader Andre Stander is shot dead in the United States of America
Andre Stander, former police officer, South African fugitive and leader of the Stander Gang consisting of Patrick Lee McCall, Allan Heyl and Stander himself,…
EventCarl Niehaus is sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason for being a member of ANC underground
Carl Niehaus grew up in Zeerust, North West Province, and completed his higher education at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). A student of theology, Niehaus was…
Keith McFadden and Zwelakhe Nyanda are killed
EventViolence breaks out at the University of Zululand
Five people were killed and many others injured at the University of Zululand (Ongoye) after the outbreak of political violence at the institution on 29…
EventMoses Mabhida receives awards
Moses Mbheki Mabhida, trade unionist, politician and Umkhonto we Sizwe commander, was awarded the Soviet Order of the People and the Order of the People's…
EventLeaders of six homelands reject new constitution
After a prolonged parliamentary session lasting 127 days, the new tricameral constitution was passed by 119 to 35 votes on 31 August 1983 and signed into law…